The HUUSD School Board met remotely on Wednesday, May 12.
Discussion was mainly on the plan to consolidate the district’s 7th and 8th graders at Crossett Brook Middle School in the fall of 2022. Board members shared thoughts on timing, infrastructure needs at Crossett Brook and what to include in the bond proposal intended for November of 2021. For an update on the most current information on these topics, see this report which formed the basis for the discussion: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14WiCN6f0WBfILBvONs4KVdqKxj8WWuDVndi37Jx7a6U/edit?usp=sharing
The Board has been collecting community feedback through a brief survey about the facilities decisions at CBMS. Each decision has implications for costs as well as the educational environment for CBMS students and teachers. All members of our community are invited to take this survey to help the Board understand more about how to optimize a possible merger. The survey, which takes about 5 minutes and will be open until Thursday May 20th, can be found here: https://forms.gle/RgFbNYUi4A7wKmaf6.
(This survey does not ask the question of whether we should merge or not, but seeks input on what the facilities should look like if we do. Filling out the survey will not give the Board a false sense that you (or others) support the merger. Instead it helps us answer the question, if the Board is going to go ahead with bringing all 7th and 8th graders together at CBMS, how can we balance out costs and opportunities to reflect community priorities?)
The Board will be voting whether to continue with the fall 2022 7/8th grade merger at its next regular meeting, on May 26th. If it chooses to proceed, it will then be making decisions about what facilities changes, if any, to make at CBMS. There will be extended public comment before the start of the meeting. Alternatively, an email can be sent to the whole board at any time before May 26th by using the cen-huusdboard@huusd.org address.
In a separate matter, the district’s administrative team read a statement regarding the Board’s recent decision to pursue an investigation into the matter of termination of an at-will employee. After brief discussion, the Board voted to re-consider the matter at its next meeting. (The admin team’s statement is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TGJFyAcAgTqGuuC0_32_bn6bqMZ7fJ3XGtn8PdH7pUo/edit?usp=sharing)
As always, the Board welcomes feedback from our community. One of the easiest ways to share your thoughts is to send an email to cen-huusdboard@huusd.org, which will go to every Board member. There is also time at every Board meeting for public comment. Alternately, reach out to one of your neighbors who is on the school board and share your thoughts in a personal email or phone call (see a list of Board members and contact information at https://docs.google.com/document/d/12bzeVf75bYYP01HvJA0FhigQU1vVqycVJfoXg-PIhEs/edit).
The Annual District Meeting will be Wednesday, May 19th. It had been postponed from Town Meeting Day due to Covid restrictions. This will be convened in the gazebo at Harwood at 6PM and will probably last about 30 or 45 minutes. All attendees must wear masks, regardless of their vaccination status.
The Board will have its next regular meeting, remotely, on Wednesday May 26th at 6PM. Find links to agendas and meetings at huusd.org. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/386460007#success